UMwelt-VIRUtopia

"UMwelt-VIRUtopia" (2011) is a robotic installation by Frederik De Wilde (BE).

UMwelt-VIRUtopia consists of a minimum of 23 robots equipped with laser beam class 2 technology mounted on top of each single robot. The robots execute swarming behaviours and while doing so creating an architecture of security. Patterns emerge and a choreography of light, sound and space unfolds in front of the audience. The installation space is filled with artificial smoke evoking a dreamscape. The smoke articulates the visibility of the laser beams.

The project plays on the psychology of borders. What is a border? How psychological is a border? What is security? Can the laser beams be perceived as some sort of kinetic cage? Can we change the architecture through interaction? Can we 'break' the patterns as an audience? Are borders made to be crossed? Can we reprogram space?